Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33181876›Full record

ArticleAfrican journal of primary health care & family medicine2020

The start-up phase of a non-specialist paediatric surgical service by outreach focused on capacity building at the Consolata Hospital Ikonda, Makete District, Tanzania.

Alessandro Calisti, Mariagrazia Andriani, Agnes Mlawa, Gian P Zara

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in African journal of primary health care & family medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 32% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Alessandro CalistiDepartment of Pediatric Surgery, San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, Rome. a.calisti@tiscali.it.
Mariagrazia Andriani
Agnes Mlawa
Gian P Zara
Nini Hospital · LB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

age) are far lower than the recommended workforce size. Complex conditions require a significant increase in the number of paediatric surgeons. In contrast, children with minor diseases, living in rural areas, could be managed even at the district level by trained general surgeons.

aimThe aim of this study was to develop capacity for general paediatric surgical services in a district hospital by outreach with a focus on mentorship.

methodsCapacity building priorities for non-specialist paediatric surgery were identified and addressed using evidence-based guidelines. Local general surgeons were involved in supervised clinical decision-making and in all surgical procedures. The visiting team provided daily meetings, weekly lectures, and on-job training. Electronic copies of recent surgical textbooks were provided together with video-conferencing distant specialist consultations.

resultsA total of 715 children were handled by the visiting team during the 27-week period. Four hundred and fifty diseases were diagnosed amongst 406 children. Awareness of paediatric surgical needs, improved management of most common conditions like congenital hernias, undescended testis, hypospadias and anorectal malformations needing temporary colostomy occurred. Local general surgeons were assisted in treating 358 cases of general paediatric surgical conditions. Updated early management protocols were introduced for more complex diseases needing referral to specialist centres like solid tumours and neonatal abnormalities. The visiting team operated major paediatric surgical cases at the Consolata Hospital Ikonda. LESSONS LEARNT: Surgical outreach and capacity building at the district hospital level could be a possible answer to the unmet paediatric surgical needs of children living in rural areas. Apprenticeship training for general surgeons may help to fill the gap provided that they are strongly motivated and supported on acquiring and implementing their paediatric surgical skills.

Indexed as

Capacity BuildingHospitals, DistrictChildHumansInfant, NewbornMaleTanzaniaWorkforceglobal healthhumanitarian outreachpaediatric surgery

Identifiers

PMID33181876
PMCPMC7669999
OpenAlexW3093797650

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.